talkmagic.co.uk

Much as I enjoy his work, I can see what Craig gets at re: Derren...

ziggy wrote:

JackWright wrote:

ziggy wrote:

shaneking wrote:He doesn't really give any tricks away but he discusses the psychology behind his magic and presentation. That sort of thing.

Cool, does anyone know where a good starting point would be for this sort of thing, i.e Derren Brown style psychological trickery

The best thing you can do is watch some clips of him (although you won't learn anything) and, if you're inclined to do so, buy his book 'Tricks of the Mind' from amazon(or ebay).
If you like it then it might be worth forking out the howevermuch they're worth now and getting one off ebay(Pure Effect, that is) but be warned: It's no use unless you're experienced and even then, it's not simply a book of tricks.

Hope that helps.

...just want a good place to start with various technique and methods/application of psychology, think i may do an A level in it next year

Me too, but the year after. One must remember that most of Derren's effects are only magic based. Psychology does not have all the answers!

JackWright wrote:

ziggy wrote:

JackWright wrote:

ziggy wrote:

shaneking wrote:He doesn't really give any tricks away but he discusses the psychology behind his magic and presentation. That sort of thing.

Cool, does anyone know where a good starting point would be for this sort of thing, i.e Derren Brown style psychological trickery

The best thing you can do is watch some clips of him (although you won't learn anything) and, if you're inclined to do so, buy his book 'Tricks of the Mind' from amazon(or ebay).
If you like it then it might be worth forking out the howevermuch they're worth now and getting one off ebay(Pure Effect, that is) but be warned: It's no use unless you're experienced and even then, it's not simply a book of tricks.

Hope that helps.

...just want a good place to start with various technique and methods/application of psychology, think i may do an A level in it next year

Me too, but the year after. One must remember that most of Derren's effects are only magic based. Psychology does not have all the answers!

Indeed, however i feel this and a study of Sociology would prove both enlightening and helpful

ziggy wrote:yeah big help, im not deluded enough into thinking theres going to be a book of tricks by him, just want a good place to start with various technique and methods/application of psychology, think I may do an A level in it next year

Psychology and sociology as mentioned somewhere else on this thread are good places to start, but not as relevant as you'd expect for Derren's particular brand of act. They're great to study, regardless, but a more focussed path of study would be better advised, particularly for things like making people forget their tube stop, reading body language, pulling super models, like Derren does.

You'd be better off studying Practical NLP (As opposed to clinical), Black Ops Hypnosis, and Social Dynamics. All of which I happen to run seminars on

I can't bear his television show but I have recently been watching clips of him working to a live audience. He is much better in a theatre than he on TV.

You'll find far more in 13 steps and annemann than in any psychology, sociology and definately NLP book or course.

AndyRegs wrote:You'll find far more in 13 steps and annemann than in any psychology, sociology and definately NLP book or course.

Absolutely. A surprising amount of what he does is mentalism which he then builds a scientific explanation around. He may be using an M5 to find which hand is holding the coin, but he'll describe "Law of averages say it will be in your left, but your eyes are twitching to your right (They're not but it sounds cool) and you're going to try to trick me so I'll go left!" He doesn't use this kind of thing all the time, and that's part of what makes him cool. He blurs the line of distinction so well and stops you working out exactly what he's doing.

His skill is in making the explanation just as cool as the mystery. Like Columbo I guess! But there are no shortcuts - NLP or mentalism wise.

If you like Derren or not he can teach you a lot. I have all 3 of his books and each one is brilliant. Not only is he funny in his writing but very informative. After reading Pure Effect it changed a lot of things I do in magic, I started to fib my way through tricks making them seem a lot more impossible than they were, and making up some very simple tricks but making them look like a very impressive psychology fete by the way I said things.

I went see Something Wicked This Way Comes. It was excellent! He can manipulate the whole audience at the same time. I remember he told us that two people in the audience were going to come upon stage, they knew who they were because they were going to feel sweaty palms, racing heart beat, dizziness etc. etc. But of course everyone was starting to feel it, it was classic! And very scary lol...

And as mentioned definitely better on stage than in the street!

mark lewis wrote:I can't bear his television show but I have recently been watching clips of him working to a live audience. He is much better in a theatre than he on TV.

finally... we're making some progress.

Yes. I was able to watch 5 minutes of him instead of the usual 30 seconds.

I've met Derren once, we got our coffee's mixed up in central London and managed to grab his autograph while doing it! He seemed a very pleasant man and the same as he did on the TV. Other magicians like Blaine have often been caught out with impromtu interviews where his "mystical" and wise character was nowhere to be seen.

I think he is an excellent hypnotist and mentalist but would love to see a lot of nitty gritty hands on magical feats!

I'll second that. I met him in Glasgow after leaving him a good luck note for his show. I wrote it on the back of my business card and when I met him I handed him another card to sign, he recognised it and stood and chatted for some time with me.. He was very pleasant and down to earth.

chocolatethunder wrote:

ziggy wrote:yeah big help, im not deluded enough into thinking theres going to be a book of tricks by him, just want a good place to start with various technique and methods/application of psychology, think I may do an A level in it next year

Psychology and sociology as mentioned somewhere else on this thread are good places to start, but not as relevant as you'd expect for Derren's particular brand of act. They're great to study, regardless, but a more focussed path of study would be better advised, particularly for things like making people forget their tube stop, reading body language, pulling super models, like Derren does.

You'd be better off studying Practical NLP (As opposed to clinical), Black Ops Hypnosis, and Social Dynamics. All of which I happen to run seminars on [/quote

ohh fascinating you do seminars on that kinda thing?!?

oh I liked the trick with the super models

mindpaul wrote:I'll second that. I met him in Glasgow after leaving him a good luck note for his show. I wrote it on the back of my business card and when I met him I handed him another card to sign, he recognised it and stood and chatted for some time with me.. He was very pleasant and down to earth.

Ohh cool

I've met him a gazillion times & he is a very pleasant gentleman indeed! very polite, friendly & down to earth!

not at all like some people would think, a lot of people think he'd be scary but nah he's adorable

I am a huge fan of Derren Brown, because even when you work out how he does tricks, it is still really entertaining to watch him because of how he presents his magic. He has a good sense of humor which he weaves into his performances making them greatly enjoyable. After all, it is not just about the trick.
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